Kevin Harvick, driver of the #4 Jimmy John’s Ford, stands on the grid during qualifying for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 59th Annual DAYTONA 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2017 in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Photo – Chris Graythen/Getty Images
If there’s a consensus among NASCAR drivers, it’s that dividing races into stages, with points available at the end of each stage, will further tax the cunning of their crew chiefs. Continue reading
Brad Keselowski, driver of the #2 Miller Lite Ford, drives during qualifying for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series 59th Annual DAYTONA 500 at Daytona International Speedway on February 19, 2017 in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Photo – Matt Sullivan/Getty Images
Joey Logano and Brad Keselowski went island hopping last Sunday.
If that sounds like a Caribbean vacation, or a way for the Team Penske teammates to relieve the accumulating stress from pressure-packed Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway, guess again.
Island hopping is the way Keselowski got to the front in Sunday’s rain-delayed Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona. It’s the way Logano ultimately won the race. And it’s the way the Ford drivers hope to win the biggest prize of all on Sunday in the Daytona 500 (2 p.m. ET on FOX). Continue reading
Photo – Matt Sullivan/Getty Images
Four Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas settled into the first four positions after a restart on lap 65 of 75 in Sunday’s Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona, but Ford drivers found a way to break the Camry chain in the closing laps.
When Brad Keselowski hooked up with Team Penske teammate and eventual race winner Joey Logano, as well as newly minted Ford driver Kevin Harvick, the Fords were able to side-draft the Toyotas, break their momentum and pick them off one by one.
Keselowski had a huge run through the first two corners on the final lap, and race leader Denny Hamlin was powerless to keep his JGR Camry out front. Ultimately, contact between Keselowski’s Ford and Hamlin’s Toyota opened the door for Logano.
A rueful Hamlin described the action in the closing laps.
“There’s really not much I can do differently at the end,” he said. “Perhaps staying in the middle lane there through (Turns) 1 and 2 and trying to side-draft. (Keselowski) had help from the 22 (Logano). I was in a bad spot there. He was just coming so much faster than what I was.
“There’s not much that I could have done to defend. We lined up so well as Toyota teammates throughout the race that once those guys started breaking that up and leap frogging, he (Keselowski) had commitment from the 22 and the 4 (Harvick) and when they were able to back up there that really put us at a speed differential.
“The 2 (Keselowski) was coming with a huge run, and I tried to do everything I could to block and cover the bottom before he got there, but he was coming at such a higher rate of speed, I probably didn’t get there in time.”
When Brad Keselowski and Denny Hamlin collided in turn two on the final lap of Sunday’s rain-delayed Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona International Speedway, Joey Logano was there to seize the moment.
Charging to the outside and grabbing the lead near the entry to the Superstretch at the 2.5-mile speedway, Logano took the checkered flag 1.121 seconds ahead of runner-up Kyle Busch, who beat third-place finisher Alex Bowman to the stripe by 0.018 seconds.
Danica Patrick dodged the turn two mêlée to surge from tenth to fourth on the final lap to post her first top-five finish in any Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race, though the result is not official because the Clash is an exhibition event with a limited field. Continue reading
Photo – Getty Images
Persistent rain on Saturday night forced postponement of the Advance Auto Parts Clash at Daytona.
The race has been rescheduled for Sunday morning, with green flag at 11:35 a.m., broadcast on FS1. The Clash will precede Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series qualifying for the Daytona 500, which will take place at 3 p.m. Sunday at Daytona International Speedway.
With starting positions drawn by lot, Brad Keselowski will lead the field to the green flag in the Clash. Denny Hamlin, the defending winner of the exhibition race that signals the start of the NASCAR season, will start on the outside of the front row. Continue reading